How healthy can I afford to be?

I’m beginning to wonder how healthy I can afford to be.
Currently I have a wellness counselor, a chiropractor, a massage therapist and a movement specialist all working to try and make me the best I can be. It all started in January when I went to the doctor and discovered I weighed more than I’ve ever weighed, my blood sugar is steadily creeping upward, my cholesterol is high and my blood pressure could be better. Not to mention my right arm and neck were a mess because after I moved I hadn’t taken the time to find a new chiropractor.
Prior to meeting Curt I probably would have just continued my old lifestyle, which would have been to be totally depressed by the above information, but do nothing about it. However, now I’ve found someone to go canoeing with, and hiking, and someone to hopefully grow old with. So, it seemed I had better begin working on all this or I might not be around to grow old.
I found a chiropractor to work on my back, which is pretty much a mess (well really it’s my neck that’s a mess). She had a massage therapist affiliated with the office so I started going to her to help with the neck mess. I began looking at what I ate. I needed something low in carbs (carbs often become sugar in the blood), low in cholesterol and low in sodium. That seemed to leave water. While I knew I would loose a lot of weight if I just drank water, it seemed an unhealthy choice. I was lamenting my lack of food choices in an email to my extended family. My Aunt Nancy emailed back and said I should talk to the wellness counselor she worked with. I had no idea such professions existed. I was skeptical at first that someone called a wellness counselor could really help me, but I trust my Aunt Nancy.
It turned out to be a good decision. I’ve learned things about greens and grains that I didn’t know and I’m learning about the glycemic index, which in terms of food with carbs is much more important than the actual carb count. I don’t have to give up pasta or rice, but I did change the kind of pastas and rices I eat. No more fast cooking stuff. And I look for whole grain pastas and breads. Plus, the wellness counselor keeps me accountable, but mainly she is my cheerleader, and believe me, everyone needs a cheerleader. I have now tried Kasha and Quinoa, two grains I never heard of before, but which I can now say I enjoy.
Of course buying food that is better for you can be more expensive. It costs 2 to 3 times more to buy food at the health food store than it does at the regular grocery. I realize my meat, grains and veggies are probably much better for me from the health food store, but I am not a money tree. My wellness counselor and I are going shopping and we will figure out what really needs to come from the health food store and what can come from the cheaper grocery.
Then of course I just added the movement specialist, which you can read more about in the post entitled Yoga and Me.
After reviewing my bank account, I have come to the conclusion that all this wellness can’t go on forever, but hopefully, it can go on for the next few months until I can get a better handle on how to be more flexible and eat more healthful food.
I told my wellness counselor this is a lot like getting new carpet in one room of the house. You get the new carpet, then realize you need a new couch and some new paint in that room, then you realize that one room is wonderful, but the rest of the house looks like crap. So, the new carpet leads to redoing an entire house.
But, it is all going to be worth it as yesterday for the first time someone said the magic words, “Connie, are you losing weight?”